History of Danny Boy Oil Company

Danius “Danny Boy” Terzakis was born in the United States in 1924, the son of Greek immigrants. His family moved back to Greece where Danny Boy lived most of his childhood. He returned to the U.S. following World War II, determined to live the American dream. In 1948, he started Danny Boy Oil Company and opened his first gas station. Through perseverance and innovation (it was one of the first companies to offer incentives to its customers for buying gasoline), Danny Boy grew the business station by station until it owned and managed over 200 gas stations in the Chicagoland area. Danny Boy also expanded into the wholesale distribution of gasoline.

Danny Boy’s hard work and determination laid the foundation for his son John Terzakis. John began working as a gas attendant for Danny Boy Oil at the age of 13, and became owner of his first gas station at the age of 15. John’s “on the job training” served him well. In 1977 he took over the family business and recognized that the mega-sized oil companies would soon squeeze independent operators like Danny Boy Oil out of the market. John began analyzing the company’s properties, looking for ways to diversify its assets and to maximize each property’s potential. Through the years, John Terzakis repositioned many of the properties, developing them into shopping centers, restaurants and office buildings.

Alas, the gasoline company evolved into a real estate development company. John Terzakis developed and nurtured valued financial and customer relationships that aided in the company’s growth and future. These relationships allowed John develop 27 7-Eleven sites in Illinois and California, 17 Checkers restaurant locations, and 3 Nobel Learning Centers. John also developed projects for CVS, Advocate Health Care, Portillo’s Restaurants, Bank of America, Osco Drug, Firestone Tires, CitiBank, and Children’s Memorial Hospital.

John Terzakis’ unique ability to think outside of the box and maximize value based on current market conditions led him to create Single Site Solutions Corp., a dynamic, multifaceted real estate development and investment firm. Single Site Solution's mission is to deliver high quality real estate developments that not only create wealth and value for the company, its partners and clients, but also economic opportunities for the communities it invests in. The company’s name defines John’s belief that this mission can only be achieved by focusing on each single project as if it were his only project and finding solutions where others see barriers.